Instead of adding time consuming exercise and recreation to our overflowing task lists, we might try small, short exercises to get us through each day more centered and peaceful.
So, initial, early(ish) morning, pre-coffee reaction: 'Ok wtf I take care of myself, how will 2 seconds of deep breathing fix everything' Immediately after checking that response, and reading the article more charitably I like the idea. There's a quote floating around in the motivational/inspirational image sphere that [s]I think[/s] that is attributed to Zig Ziglar People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.
I like this quote, because even throughout the day I find myself starting to wallow in some kind of mental downturn, and I frequently benefit from some kind of reminder of my goals/ideals. Maybe that's part of what laziness is, the accumulated mental 'dirt' of a lack of motivation.
From what I’ve gathered from BJ Fogg’s “Persuasive Technology” and Stephen Wendel’s “Designing for Behavior Change”, motivation may not play as large a role for changing behavior as you might think it does. While this may sound counter-intuitive, bear with me and take a look at this section in “Designing for Behavior Change”. You can paraphrase this for yourself to “what blocks me from taking an action”. What’s described is the CREATE funnel, an acronym for cue, reaction, evaluation, ability, timing, execute. Simplified, this might mean for you to set up a reminder at an opportune time (e.g. at the usual time in the evening when you get home; or piggyback on existing behavior like when arriving at work) to do an activity you find worthwhile and which you are able to do easily(!). This should lead to you taking action more often, and which, in my interpretation, is why the micro self-care approach worked for the author. I’m actually well under-way of building something during my thesis which respects this model. If you want to discuss this approach, or you’re interested in participating, I’d love to get PMs.
I've only read about half of this, but I'm reminded of Jane McGonigal's TED talk about SuperBetter: Small things one can do frequently to improve one's mental, physical, and social state.
Sounds like SuperBetter might be helpful. It's focused on really small tasks, such as, "Shake one person's hand." or "Count to 50 by 4s."